1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to headgear and, more particularly, to hats, full face masks, half face masks, and balaclava masks, including neoprene masks, that provide ear warmers and a tensioning device that causes the hats and masks to conform snuggly to the head, particularly the ears and the back of the head, thereby provide more warmth and more secure covering than prior art devices.
2. Related Art
Currently, hats or headgear are worn for a variety of purposes. Some hats are purely ornamental, some have origins in deeply-rooted religious beliefs, some have a purely utilitarian purpose, and some combine these aspects.
One purpose of headgear is for protection from environmental elements, including cold air, wind, and snow or precipitation. In order to protect someone from these or other elements, the headgear should keep the element from reaching the wearer's body and head.
Often, winter hats are loose-knit from fibrous material such as wool, cotton, or a synthetic fiber. The fiber and the knit pattern provide the hat with a certain amount of elasticity so that the hat is stretched somewhat through the act of putting the hat on one's head, and the hat will then contract and conform to the shape of the wearer's head.
Typically, hats used for protection against the weather are used in conjunction with other apparel items. Specifically, a person will wear a hat, and a coat, a scarf and ear warmers. Overlapping the items, such as with an ear warmer over a hat or a hat over an ear warmer fails to provide the optimum coverage. A knit hat without ear warmers fails to completely cover the ears, as the elastic knit material creeps and pulls up and away from the ears.
A hat's utility is dependent on its ability to prevent cold air from reaching the wearer's head, particularly at the hat's opening. For instance, a person who wears eyeglasses may pull a hat down on their head only to have gaps where the temples of the eyeglasses hold the hat away from the head, thereby allowing cold air to pass to the person's head.
The same issue is present for someone wearing a hat where the person has long hair. If the hair is allowed to drape down the neck and back, the combination of elasticity of the hat and of the fact that the hair provides a slick surface over which the hat is pulled causes the hat to creep up and off of the head. This reduces the effectiveness of the hat to keep the person warm.
Likewise, when a wearer has a full face mask, half face mask or a balaclava mask, the mask may not cover the ears at all, or only partially cover the ears. The present invention provides ear warming and an additional snugness to the fit of the mask as it is tensioned around the back of the neck.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a new and improved hat or headgear and face masks for protecting a person's head and face from environmental elements.
Ear warmers have been made that grip the back of the head and cover the ears securely. There is no suitable way to combine the use of these ear warmers with a knit hat to warmly and securely cover the head.
The present invention has combined the effectiveness of the ear warmers with the warmth and effectiveness of a knit hat, in a combination that provides the unexpected result of adding tension to the back of the hat so that the hat does not creep up and expose the neck, the back of the head or the ears. Additionally, an effective combination of face masks and ear warmers are presented. There are no prior art devices that do what the present invention does.
Examples of known prior art devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,089,427, 2,444,251, 5,038,412, 7,212,645, 7,222,373 7,650,649. None of the listed references disclose the claimed combination of hat with ear warmers. U.S. Pat. No. 7,962,970 and U.S. 2012/0124715 disclose prior art ear warmers which are not attached to a hat.